Charcoal Roasted Oolong at Teance

I received my sample pack from Teance last week - and really enjoyed the honey dan cong (chong?). The honey flavor was a first for me coming from tea! Then I tried the Charcoal Roasted Oolong and thought it had even more honey and sweet flavor to it. Very good stuff... Then I found this...
Dong Ding info

Investigation showed that the wu long tea gets its honey flavour from secretions left on it by cicadas

Yum yum... oh well, if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger!! Actually, I'm a Chinese medicine practitioner and we use all kinds of bugs and insects in Chinese medicine, so it doesn't bother me at all.

I have heard that Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty) oolong from Taiwan gets its sweetness form the bite of the tea jassid, which I think is a Leafhopper from the family Cicadellidae. They bite the living leaves which starts the oxidation process before harvest and yields a sweet resulting oxidized tea. I imagine there are secretions involved, but I prefer not to think of them ... after all, honey and milk are secretions.

But I haven't heard about insect secretions being part of the creation of the typical Dong Dings. Normally, I expect accurate information from Tea From Taiwan, but I think maybe they made a mistake here or at least didn't elaborate sufficiently what they meant.

Thats awesome. I am drinking Legend of Dong Ding from Teahome right now and I was just admiring the thick honey smell. Just curious, as a Chinese Medecine practitioner what do you think the health benefits of Oolong are?

devites wrote:Thats awesome. I am drinking Legend of Dong Ding from Teahome right now and I was just admiring the thick honey smell. Just curious, as a Chinese Medecine practitioner what do you think the health benefits of Oolong are?

Between Black and Green! Black - warm in nature, Green - cool in nature. Black for winter, Green for summer. I don't follow that strictly though - either should have a large overlap in any health benefits. It just depends on who's doing the funding for the research. Since the money is in green tea, the green tea is predominant in research articles. Tea nourishes the spleen and aids digestion etc etc.

In reality - I think it's probably a little better than taking vitamins - especially because tea is a whole food - but it's not TOO big a deal for health protection. The Chinese will say differently, but in studies they look at massive mega doses of concentrated tea and it has a light impact. Exercise is probably 100x more important - unless drinking tea prevents you from drinking soda!

Investigation showed that the wu long tea gets its honey flavour from secretions left on it by cicadas

Wow, Cicadas actually do have a contribution to the world other than driving you mad! Cicadas are leafhoppers and they emerge from the ground, mate, saw the tender branches of trees/shrubs with their back legs and lay eggs along the cut. The larvae feed off the tree secretions and go back to the ground when they are mature enough. 17,9, or 2 years later they start all over again . . . (I lived through a plague of cicadas 8 years ago!)

I have never read that about Dong Ding. Hopefully Cicada spit, and not the end product secretions from cicadas. I'm going to have to put DD on my next tea order!

augie wrote: Wow, Cicadas actually do have a contribution to the world other than driving you mad! Cicadas are leafhoppers and they emerge from the ground, mate, saw the tender branches of trees/shrubs with their back legs and lay eggs along the cut. The larvae feed off the tree secretions and go back to the ground when they are mature enough. 17,9, or 2 years later they start all over again . . . (I lived through a plague of cicadas 8 years ago!)!

Me too Augie!

Cicadas are big and if they were on a tea leaf, they'd be eating it, there would not be much left for tea! I lived through the 17 year locust cycle in my home town of Ohio, and it was quite tramatic. These insects are known for totally devasting crops and most any vegatation in their way. As Sal says, I think was a mistake. It most likely was a translation error.

Victoria wrote:As Sal says, I think was a mistake. It most likely was a translation error.

Mmm, let me clarify. I believe the Tea Jassid is a leafhopper/cicada or whatever, just a tiny sweet and totally endearing one. Sort of like a cute kitty compared to dusty old lion, but they're both cats.

The thing that I think may be error is the idea that any insect is involved in creating the signature Dong Ding tea taste. I believe its honey sweetness comes just from the leaf and processing, prolly a light roast.

Salsero wrote:I have heard that Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty) oolong from Taiwan gets its sweetness form the bite of the tea jassid, which I think is a Leafhopper from the family Cicadellidae. They bite the living leaves which starts the oxidation process before harvest and yields a sweet resulting oxidized tea. I imagine there are secretions involved, but I prefer not to think of them ... after all, honey and milk are secretions.

But I haven't heard about insect secretions being part of the creation of the typical Dong Dings. Normally, I expect accurate information from Tea From Taiwan, but I think maybe they made a mistake here or at least didn't elaborate sufficiently what they meant.

I'm sorry Sal, if I seemed to misquote you.

Victoria wrote:Cicadas are big and if they were on a tea leaf, they'd be eating it, there would not be much left for tea! I lived through the 17 year locust cycle in my home town of Ohio, and it was quite tramatic. These insects are known for totally devasting crops and most any vegatation in their way. As Sal says, I think was a mistake.It most likely was a translation error.